Food purchased from cinema kiosks can be extortionately priced. In many places, the cheapest bag of popcorn can set you back five pounds! With a mark-up of 600% on many consumables (more, I suspect, for certain food items), the cost of snacks often exceeds that of the cinema ticket itself. Cinemas argue that much of their ticket sales is take by film distributors and that the food mark-up compensates for that, but those of us little disposable income prefer our snacks to be more frugal.

Did you know that most cinemas allow you to consume cold food and drinks which have not been purchased in the kiosk. Except for hot food and alcoholic beverages, you will usually be allowed to snack on foods you have brought in yourself. Unfortunately, most consumers (and some cinema staff) are the false impression that food and drink purchased elsewhere is prohibited.

Here's what the big three British cinema chains have to say about bringing your own food into their cinemas:

Cineworld

From Section 2.2 of Cineworld's Terms of Entry:

Alcohol and Food Policy: Neither alcohol nor hot food may be brought onto the premises. Only hot food bought on the premises may be consumed on the premises. Alcohol may only be purchased and consumed in Cineworld licensed bar areas or in licensed screens and licensing laws will be strictly enforced.

There is no mention that food purchased elsewhere is prohibited from the cinema.

Vue

From Section 3.8 of the Terms and Conditions:

Hot food brought from outside of the cinema may not be consumed on the premises.

It is also stated in Section 3.13 that no alcohol may be brought into the cinema (and alcohol purchased on the premises must be consumed only in the licensed bar area).

There is no mention that food and drink purchased elsewhere may not be consumed on the premises.

Odeon

In the terms and conditions for general admission, Odeon does not specifically reference whether or not food can be taken into the cinema. Luckily I found this statement to BBC Watchdog to help clarify matters:

ODEON does not have a policy against people taking their own food into screenings, other than when it can affect other guests' enjoyment - for example odorous foods - and discretion is therefore left to the individual cinema managers.

When visiting an independent cinema, it is best to check the terms of entry beforehand to see whether or not you are allowed to consume your own food. In all cases, this is allowed at the cinema manager's discretion; different cinemas may well have different policies in regards to food and drink.

Join the conversation!

Do you have any further ideas about cheap cinema outings for the family? What are your opinions about taking your own food into the cinema?

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Photo credit: atomicjeep, via Flickr